


Braces

by Lilbug121



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 14:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilbug121/pseuds/Lilbug121
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being dentists, Hermione's parents are very wary of magical orthodontia. As such, Hermione is the only student at Hogwarts to have braces. Luckily, as dense as he may be, Ron does occasionally have good ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Braces

"But what are they _for_?" Ron asked Hermione incredulously.

Hermione sighed, resigning herself to having to explain this to almost everyone. "They're going to fix my overbite. And before you say it, I know that there's a spell for that. It's just that...well, my parents are dentists. It's not that they don't trust magic, they just don't trust it when it comes to orthodontia." 

"Do they hurt? They look like they hurt." Ron stared at Hermione's teeth bewildered, wondering how any Muggle managed to come up with such a wild idea, regardless of whether or not it worked.

"It only really hurts when they get tightened. The most annoying thing has honestly been that I can't eat certain things now. If it's too sticky or hard it might break them.

Ron gulped. "Tightened!?" 

"Yes Ron, tightened. How else are they going to move my teeth? Honestly, it's like you don't even think." Hermione sighed, feeling her front teeth self-consciously. She had never felt too embarrassed by her overbite, and didn't think she would feel like this about having braces put on. But braces were a Muggle thing, and she quickly realized that she was most likely going to be the only student at Hogwarts with them. 

Harry, noticing Hermione's distress and Ron's obliviousness, attempted to comfort his friend. "They aren't really that... noticeable Hermione. I almost didn't notice them." Harry said, unconvincingly. They might be easily overlooked to a Muggle, but it was obvious that someone who had never seen them would pin them as an oddity. Hermione gave Harry a look.

"...Yeah, all right, they're pretty noticeable."

Hermione groaned and slumped forward on the table. "This is going to be terrible!"

"...Well, you're a witch aren't you? And a bloody good one at that. "

"What is your point Ron?"

"Well, turning things invisible shouldn't be that hard, especially not for you. Not proper invisible like Harry's cloak, of course, but they're so small that even a simple charm should probably do the trick."

Hermion sat up quickly, hugging Ron and smiling hugely. "Oh Ron that's brilliant, I could just kiss you!" She dug around her handbag and found a small compact mirror, took out her wand, and cast a spell on her braces. She had chosen a more simple invisibility spell, and while it was still obvious to her, Harry, and Ron that she had something on her teeth, anyone who wasn't looking for it wouldn't be likely to notice anything. 

"It worked! This is perfect, I can take the spell off when I go to get them tightened and the put it back on when it's done, and no one will know!" In her excitement she hugged Ron again before putting her things away. 

Harry and Ron quickly got used to not offering Hermione sticky sweets, and she herself quickly became adept at brewing a localized pain-killing potion. It was more of an ointment due to it's thickness, and applying it to her gums after a tightening made the pain disappear almost instantly. 

The next summer, Hermione was excitedly sharing with her friends that she now had straight teeth, and explaining the purpose of a retainer to a very confused Ron.

"But", she said quietly, "I don't actually need to wear it for much longer. Once we go back to Hogwarts, I'm going to put a spell on my teeth to serve the same purpose. My parents don't know, of course. Honestly, I don't understand them at times. They can handle the idea of dragons existing, but not the idea of magical orthodontia." she laughed. 

"Hey," Ron said, picking a taffy out of the mix of sweets the three were sharing and handing it to Hermione, "you can eat these now, right?"

Hermione smiled at Ron and unwrapped the candy. "I suppose I can, can't I?". She took a bite of the chewy candy intending to savor it, but then her face fell flat.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked worriedly.

"I just remembered something," she said laughing. "I don't think I ever liked taffy to begin with!"


End file.
